Bathing newborn twins

My girls are 4 weeks old and i am trying to work out when is best to bath them to make it a nicer experience as currently they scream their way through it. Weveete told by the hospital never to bath them on a full belly so we have been waking them to bath them before a feed. The poor little things hate it and it's no wonder because every other time we wake them they get food.

They are still so sleepy we have to wake them for everything. Is it true I can't bath them after a feed. We are not bathing every day. What did you other ladies do or what can you suggest?

God, I'd never have woken my twins just to bath them. Feed them, sure. But wake to bath? NEVER!

FWIW, my two screamed through their baths (fed or not) for the first few months. It's just that time of day. I'd feed them, then bath them, then feed them again. I was breastfeeding, but I think you can do the same if you are bottle feeding.

It does get easier. I know everyone says that, and to be honest it used to really get my back up when they did...but..it does get easier. And I think twins rock. So do twin mothers. xx

Thanks ladies. I really appreciate your input. I know it sounds terribly cruel to wake them for a bath but I have to wake them for everything so if I didn't wake them to bath they'd never get one. Of course now I know the nurse told me fibs, I can bath them after a feed when they are already awake. Phew! It's been breaking my heart doing it the other way.

ecb, you're doing fine! The things you could possibly do with a singleton aren't as easy with twins.

I never woke mine for anything during the day. I bathed them whenever we could fit it in - usually every 2 or 3 days and at any time of the day that it seemed that we had 10 minutes to spare. I didn't necessarily bath them one after each other either. It may have meant topping up the bath with warm water, but I felt it was better to make sure it was relaxing for all of us. I loved bathing time actually - it was a special one-on-one time with them individually

ecb, congrats on the twins, i personaly dont have twins, my sister did thoughas I have found with my kids, yes the midwives are helpful, but half the things they tell you are not going to work with your kids, try different things and you and bubs will work out the best time/way to do things. good luck!!

Mine only got bathed 1-2 times per week and then it was about 20 mins after a bath which the nurses in the NICU told me (best before, but 20 mins after is OK), so by the time they've had a cuddle and a burp it's pretty much OK to give them a bath.

I woke my babies almost every time for a feed except after about 8 weeks stopped waking them at 2am.

I bath mine after a feed. With a short rest period between feed and bath.

I give them a bath around 5 to 6:30. Around that time, when they wake up, I give them a feed then a bath then another feed (if they want it and they are not too tired) and then bed. They are 8 weeks now and I started this routine ages ago. They expect a bath around this time and quite enjoy it and it helps them to wind down for bed. They dreamfeed twice before midnight then sleep through till about 6 -7ish.

If I bath them by myself then there's bound to be some crying for the twin that's waiting to be bathed or has already been bathed whilst I'm bathing the other one!! Most days DH gets home in time for baths to help.

They get a bath every day. It really helps with sleep I find. I either bath them in baby bath, I get in the shower and DH brings the baby to me one at a time and then dresses them (they love showers! and the skin to skin contact), or I get in the big bath and DH brings them to me aswell. They seem to like the variety. Big bath is rare though!! but I love it coz I get to spend more quality time with each one and do diff activities like i have them on my chest in the bath tub or on my legs and slide by legs back and forth etc

I have also bath them everyday from birth. Boy twins sweats a lot and gets fluff caught in creases everywhere and gets milk stuck in creases in his neck from spit ups which if I don't clean, gets very red and tender. Girl twin has a head full of hair that gets really flaky and oily if I don't wash it everyday. lol

Oh I also, have the heater on in the bathroom, have the tastic light on, have the bedroom warmed up etc

All your stories are so helpful. Currently we are bathing every 3 days or so with daily top and tails. Next bath I'll try the split feed thing before and after. If they still cry then so be it. At least I'll be able to rule out the hunger factor.

SAL - can you tell me more about showering with them? I like that idea. How old were they when you first did it? How do you hold them? Step me through it.

We were told to wake our boys in hospital. They were sleepy babies and had to be woken for feeds for the first couple of weeks, so the nurses said to come in about half an hour before a feed was due and then given them a bath.

Once we were home we just gave them a bath whenever we got a chance and when they were awake, but always after a feed, it seems silly to try and bath a hungry baby.

Most newborns don't like to have a bath anyway. We found if we made the bath really deep so they could float they were not as distressed, but other days they just screamed their way through it, who knows what the neighbours thought !!

We have given them a shower a couple of times but I think it's more trouble as you need two adults, one for the showering and the other doing the dressing and undressing. At least with a bath I can do it alone when the chance arises.

We still only bath every second day and the boys are nearly six months, will have to start every day soon, as they are moving about more and have started solids recently so its not just milk anymore to contend with.

Just go with the flow and whatever feel right for you and your babies.

Another here who did baby bath with a washer on the tummy. I also had one of those towelling bath sling things.(Kmart big W) They can lay on it and relax while they get a wash. We showered ours from about 4 weeks and now most nights they are in the shower together (almost 1) and I just kneel and wash them and get them out.

I think waking a baby for a bath and trying do something that is supposed to be a nice relaxing thing when they are screaming from hunger doesn't make sense. It makes you wonder about the people giving the advice.

ECB, go with what you feel is best. I find that midwives and MCHN all have a different story. Just do what you feel suits your babies best. We did baths in the morning when they came home. With showers I just give them to DH one at a time and I dress one while he washes the next one. Quick and easy. We borrowed a second change table from a friend and had it outside our ensuite door. Good Luck to you, Rach

TELLI - knew the washer on the tummy thing but not the feet touching the end of the bath. That would make sense. We know that if they are having a hard time with nappy change holding their feet tight for a bit calms them down.

We are set to bath them so I'll let you know how we go.

And yes we are doing the EASY thing. Trying to anyway but they are still such sleepy little things we don't get much of the A out of them.

I don't know how this would work with twins, but can you bathe with them? When my son was little and REALLY unsettled during the day, the only thing to calm both of us down was a cuddle and feed in the bath. Actually, it probably really wont work with twins.

I have 5wk old twin girls and my husband and I bath them after they have been fed and burped. They usually like the bath and will sit there staring at us contently unless they get a bit cold and then they will scream, but we just keep putting a wash cloth in the warm water then putting it on their chest and stomach. They will cry if they get sick of being in there and are usually good when drying off and dressing. We give them a bit of a massage when putting the baby lotion on and they seem to like that aswell. I think you just need to do what works best for you. I hadn't heard that you shouldn't bath them after a feed and we haven't had any negative results from doing it.

We usually bath them after their early night feed and find they sleep better at night too especially when we use the Johnsons Bedtime bath wash. I'm probably stating the obvious here, but make sure the room your bathing them in is nice and warm. Hope this helps.

I bathed DD with her baby bath on the lounge room floor, with the heater on and in the mornings for the first few months as the bathroom in winter/at night was just too cold and she protested that I was stripping her off !

I get in the shower first and dh undresses one twin and bring them to me. I just hold them like I normally do upright against me. With showers, I don't wash the hair though. They love the water on their back. Just a lil bit of J&J bath wash. Then DH wraps in towel and dry them, the other twin is already undress so DH passes the next one to me whilst he changes the first one. It's pretty easy. Probably easier than setting up the baby bath and quicker too.

They expect a a bath every night or they will cry and sometimes a rinse in the shower is much quicker. It started when I saw DH in the shower and I just handed him a baby and then another...quick and easy.

We went away last weekend and in the hotel, they had a bath with a shower. I just turned on the shower and rinsed them quickly under the shower, didn't even get in the bath. They loved it. Kind of holding them out and dangling them under the shower. But no water on head and face. They slept on the pull out trundle bed in the hotel.

so, we did the bath thing last night and it went sooooooo much better. Mum and I had taken them for a walk in the afternoon. They were a bit unsettled after that and I think it was because they'd had 1/2 their normal sleep in their pram but then woken and couldn't get back to sleep again. So we gave them a slightly earlier feed and then their bath. Both of them still screamed blue murder when being undressed and redressed but this time in the bath they both relaxed beautifully. We kept their little feet touching the end of the bath and the washers on their tummy. Yay! We put oil on them after to keep theircskin lovely and hopefully as they settle into having their gear off that can turn into massage time.

After their bath we gave them a top up and then into bed. They went straight to sleep. Got them up at 8pm for a feed and they went straight back to sleep. Did the same thing at 11pm and then they slept through until 3am. That's only the 2nd time we've gotten a 4 hour stretch from them. Took me just over an hour to get them fed and settled and thatvwad us until 6:15am. I was stoked because I slept from 8:30-10:50pm and then 11:30pm-3am and 4:30-6:15am. I feel semi normal today.

Not sure if it was the bath that did the trick or just luckybthst everything came together nicely all on the one day but either way, it was great to see them enjoy their bath and how nice is a bit of sleep?!!!!